This dialog lets you explore the differences and synchronize the folders you are comparing.

You can also open the difference viewer without running CLion. Run the following command: <path to CLion executable file> diff <path_1> <path_2> where path_1 and path_2 are paths to the folders you want to compare.

Toolbar

Item

Tooltip and shortcut

Description

Available for

F7Shift+F7

Use these buttons to jump to the next/previous difference.

When the last/first difference is hit, CLion suggests to press F7 /Shift+F7 once more and compare other files.

This feature becomes available only when the Differences Viewer is invoked from the Version Control tool window.

Version control

Jump to Source F4

Click this button to open file in the editor's active tab. The caret will be placed in the same position as in the Differences Viewer.

All

RefreshF5

Click this button to refresh the contents of the differences viewer.

All

Show new files on left side

Click this button to display items that are present in the first of the compared directories or database objects and are missing in the second one in the left pane.

All

Show diff in external tool

Click this button to invoke an external differences viewer, specified in the External Diff Tools page.

This button is only available if the Use external diff tool option is selected in the External Diff Tools settings page.

All

Show difference

Click this button to display items that are present in both folders or database objects but have different contents, timestamp, or size.

All

Show equal files

Click this button to display items that are present in both directories or objects and have the same contents, timestamp, and size, depending on the parameter set in Compare by drop-down list.

All

Show new files on right side

Press this toggle button to have CLion show the items, that are present in the second of the compared directories or database objects and are missing in the first one.

All

Compare by

From this drop-down list, select the parameter to be used for comparison. The available options are:

Binary Content

Text (charset and line separators are ignored)

Size

Size and Timestamp

Local folders Local-remote folders

Synchronize SelectedEnter

Click this button to have CLion apply the specified action to the selected pair of items. Actions to be performed are shown in the * field.

All

Synchronize AllCtrl+Enter

Click this button to have CLion apply the specified action to all the pairs of items in the list. Actions to be performed are shown in the * field.

Type the filtering string (for example, file or table name). Use * wildcard to replace any number of arbitrary characters.

Note that filter applies on pressing Enter.

All

Path

These fields show the paths to the folders being compared. To change a directory, click Browse and specify another directory in the dialog that opens.

Local folders Local-remote folders

HelpF1

Click this button to show reference page.

All

List of items

The list shows the items from the compared objects that meet the comparison criterion specified in the Compare by drop-down list and the filtering criteria specified through the toolbar buttons.

Item

Description

Available for

Name

These read-only fields show the names of under the object specified in the fields.

All

Size

These read-only fields show the sizes of files under the folders being compared.

Local folders Local-remote folders

Date

These read-only fields show the timestamps of files under the folders being compared.

Local folders Local-remote folders

*

The icon in this field indicates the action that will be applied to the pair of items in the current line upon clicking the Synchronize Selected or Synchronize All toolbar button.

To change the currently selected action, click the icon.

Icon

Action

Copy the item in the left side to the right side, possibly overwriting the contents of the corresponding target item, if it already exists.

Copy the item in the right side to the left side, possibly overwriting the contents of the corresponding target item, if it already exists.

The items are treated identical with regard to the selected criterion of comparison. No action will be performed by default.

The items differ with regard to the selected criterion of comparison. No action will be performed by default. Explore the differences in the Differences Pane and change the intended action by clicking the icon.

The item is present only in one of the folders and will be removed.

All

Differences pane

The differences pane is displayed only for files with the same names, which exist on both sides. For the files and DB objects that exist on one side only, the contents of the selected file/DB object is displayed.

If the files have read-only status, they are not editable in the differences pane.

This behavior is supported only when the Differences Viewer is invoked from the Version Control tool window.

Compare Previous/Next File Alt+LeftAlt+Right

Click these buttons to compare the local copy of the previous/next file with its update from the server.

These controls are only available if more than one file has been modified locally.

Go To Changed File Ctrl+N

Click this button to display all changed files in a current change set (and navigate to them).

Jump to Source F4

Click this button to open the selected file in the active pane in the editor. The caret will be placed in the same position as in the Differences Viewer.

Viewer type

Use this drop-down list to choose the desired viewer type. The side-by-side viewer has two panels; the unified viewer has one panel only.

Both types of viewers enable you to

Edit code. Note that one can change text only in the right-hand part of the default viewer, or, in case of the unified viewer, in the lower ("after") line, i.e. in your local version of the file.

Perform the Apply/Append/Revert actions.

Whitespace

Use this drop-down list to define how the differences viewer should treat white spaces in the text.

Do not ignore: white spaces are important, and all differences are highlighted. This option is selected by default.

Trim whitespaces: ("\t", " "), if they appear in the end and in the beginning of a line.

If two lines differ in trailing whitespaces only, these lines are considered equal.

If two lines are different, such trailing whitespaces are not highlighted in the By word mode.

Ignore whitespaces: white spaces are not important, regardless of their location in the source code.

Ignore whitespaces and empty lines: the following entities are ignored:

all whitespaces (as in the 'Ignore whitespaces' option)

all added or removed lines consisting of whitespaces only

all changes consisting of splitting or joining lines without changes to non-whitespace parts. For example, changing a b c to a \n b c is not highlighted in this mode.

Highlighting mode

Select the way differences granularity is highlighted. The available options are:

Highlight words: the modified words are highlighted

Highlight lines: the modified lines are highlighted

Highlight split changes: if this option is selected, big changes are split into smaller 'atomic' changes. For example, A \n B vs. A X \n B X will be treated as two changes instead of one.

Do not highlight: if this option is selected, the differences are not highlighted at all. This option is intended for significantly modified files, where highlighting only introduces additional difficulties.

Collapse unchanged fragments

Click this button to collapse all unchanged fragments in both files. The amount of non-collapsible unchanged lines is configurable in the Diff & Merge settings page.

Synchronize scrolling

Click this button to simultaneously scroll both differences panes; if this button is released, each of the panes can be scrolled independently.

Editor settings

Click this button to invoke the list of available settings. Select or clear this options to show or hide whitespaces, line numbers and indent guides, to use or disable the use of soft wraps, and to set the highlighting level.

These commands are also available from the context menu of the differences viewer gutter.

Include into commit Alt+I

This checkbox only appears if you invoke the Differences Viewer from the Commit Changes dialog with multiple changed files (all of which are deselected), and you explore the differences between them and hit the last difference in a file.

Select this checkbox if you want to include the file you've reviewed into the commit.

Move to Another Changelist F6

This button only appears if you invoke the Differences Viewer from the Commit Changes dialog with multiple changed files (all of which are deselected), and you explore the differences between them and hit the last difference in a file.

Click this icon to move the file you've reviewed to another changelist.

This button only appears on the toolbar when the Use external diff tool option is enabled in the External Diff Tools settings page.

HelpF1

Click this button to show the corresponding help page.

Ctrl+Tab

Use this keyboard shortcut to switch between the panes of the Differences viewer. The active pane has the cursor.

Use these chevron buttons to apply differences between panes (in case of the side-by-side viewer) or between lines (in case of the unified viewer).

The chevron buttons can change their behavior:

Click to apply changes. This behavior is the default one.

Press Ctrl to change to or and append changes.

Context menu

This menu appears when you right-click an entry in the list of items. The commands in this menu define which action must be taken for the selected entry on clicking Synchronize Selected or Synchronize All. The selected action appears in the * column.

Item

Icon

Description

Set Copy to Right/Left

This command sets the specified icons in the * column to copy a file missing from one of the directories. If a file exists on one side, it will be copied; if it doesn't exist, then the file on the other side will not be deleted.

Set Delete

This command sets the specified icons in the * column to delete file.

Set Do Nothing

Choose this command to remove an action icon.

Set Mirror to Right

Choose this command to automatically set actions in the * column that will mirror the contents of the left folder in the right folder when you click Synchronize All.

Set Mirror to Left

Choose this command to automatically set actions in the * column that will mirror the contents of the right folder in the left folder when you click Synchronize All.

Set Default

Choose this command to set the default action for the entry.

Warn When Delete

Select this option to display a warning when trying to delete a file that is located only in one of the two directories during their merge.

File comparison statuses and intended operations are shown in the column marked with an asterisk (*). To assign or change an operation, use the context menu associated with the corresponding cell. Alternatively, click the cell or press Space one or more times.

Applying operations:

(Enter) applies the operations to selected files.

(Ctrl+Enter) applies the operations to all the files.

Icon

Description

The file exists only in the left-hand folder. The intended operation is to copy the file to the right-hand folder.

If a file exists in both folders and you apply this operation, the file in the right-hand folder is overwritten.

For the selected comparison criterion, the files are not identical. No operation is assumed.

Study the file differences in the lower part of the view. You can choose to overwrite one of the files by assigning and applying the corresponding operation. You can as well modify the file contents.

This may be done by typing or by using the following buttons and context menu commands:

or or Replace. Replace the fragment with the one from the other pane.

or or Insert. Insert the fragment into the other pane.

Remove. Remove the corresponding fragment.

To undo the changes, use Ctrl+Z.

For the selected comparison criterion, the files are identical. No operation is assumed.

The file exists only in the right-hand folder. The intended operation is to copy the file to the left-hand folder.

If a file exists in both folders and you apply this operation, the file in the left-hand folder is overwritten.

Delete the file. The operation is not available for files that exist in both folders.